Blast from the Past
by ArtistKurai
Summary: Hermione bumps into a former classmate at the store. Veiled insults abound until a certain redhead shows up and throws everything off kilter.


A/N: Happy New Year, FFN! I hope everyone had a marvelous Christmas and New Year. I come with a late Christmas present in the form of a fanfic! Please enjoy! And before any of you ask, yes, Regina is semi-inspired by Regina George. I couldn't resist.

Disclaimer: Hey, everybody, it's Music Time!

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Hermione Granger stood in the middle of a muggle grocery store and pondered the selection of apples in front of her, deciding which kind would be best for the apple pie she was planning to make for supper that night. Though she wasn't nearly so picky about the little details when it came to cooking - surviving a war had made her much more lax about such things - tonight was a special occasion. So the pie needed to be created with care. And that included choosing the perfect apples to put in it.

After selecting a few green apples, she moved her buggy through the produce section so she could decide which vegetables should go with the pork roast that would serve as the main dish for that night's meal. As she chose a head of broccoli and a head of cauliflower, another buggy rammed into hers.

"I'm so sorry!" a voice apologized profusely. Startled by the collision and the voice, Hermione's head shot up to assure the other woman that all was well.

"It's quite alright, I promise-" She cut herself off when she recognized the other woman.

"Hermione Granger, is that you?" the newcomer asked with surprise upon recognizing her.

"Yes. Regina Hartford?" Hermione asked in shock. Regina Hartford had been one of Hermione's primary school classmates before she received her acceptance to Hogwarts. She was also one of the girls who loved tormenting Hermione. Apparently, that hadn't changed with Hermione's absence.

"Soon to be Williamson," Regina corrected, a haughty sneer coloring her voice as she held up her left hand to show off a horribly gaudy engagement ring.

A frown marred Hermione's pretty face at the familiar sneer. It had been an everyday occurrence during her primary school years, and she hadn't missed it one bit. _Though Professor Snape's daily sneers more than made up for Regina's,_ she thought to herself.

"Congratulations," Hermione granted shortly. She turned back to the vegetables, hoping her former classmate would take a hint.

She didn't.

"So what have you been up to?" Regina asked, hoping for a bit of juicy gossip on the girl she hadn't seen since they were ten. "I haven't seen you in, how long has it been? Fifteen years?"

"Almost," Hermione confirmed without facing the other woman. "Though it's actually been closer to twelve than fifteen."

"What have you been doing all this time? I really haven't heard anything about you since you went off to that other school. What was it called again?"

"Hogwarts."

"That's an... interesting name." Hermione rolled her eyes. Could this woman be any more obnoxious? "What are you doing now?"

"I work for the government," Hermione answered vaguely.

"Oh really," Regina responded in a sickly sweet tone. "How lovely. And what is it you do?"

"I actually work closely with Parliament and Buckingham Palace," Hermione informed her former classmate, matching her insincere tone. "I'm a liaison employee." It was true. Hermione was a liaison worker between the magical and muggle governments to ensure a steady flow of information and that the two governments worked well together.

"Oh really?" Regina repeated, only this time with much more interest. "So do you speak with the queen very often?"

"Every now and then. She loves it when I bring treats for her dogs." Regina's smile froze a bit, and Hermione inwardly smirked at her victory.

"It's good to hear that you're doing so well for yourself. Though I see your left hand is still bare. Haven't found anyone to settle down with yet?" Hermione wanted to claw the simpering woman's eyes out. Instead she took a deep breath.

"Actually, I have."

"Congratulations!" Regina gushed with false sincerity. Hermione had to forcibly resist drawing her wand on the bimbo. "So, what is he like? Does he work for the government as well?"

"Actually, no, he doesn't."

"That's a shame. So you didn't meet at work?"

"No, actually. We went to Hogwarts together. I met him there."

"Oh, I see. Two brainiacs meeting and falling in love unexpectedly?" asked Regina, her voice and words implying that Hermione and her mystery man couldn't do better than each other. Now Hermione wanted to knock her teeth out.

"Actually, we're complete opposites. He was a huge prankster in school, never liked to follow the rules, and barely went to class, though he is amazingly intelligent. He just doesn't like to show it." The young woman had to smile at the thought of the man she loved. "He owns his own store with his brother."

"An entrepreneur, I see. And what kind of store do they own?"

"A joke shop."

The smile froze on Regina's face again, though this time it made Hermione want to laugh. "A joke shop?" she repeated incredulously. Hermione made a mental note to put this memory in the pensieve for everyone to enjoy later.

"Yep. They sell all kinds of joke toys and pranks, including snacks that can help you get out of class. They're really ingenious."

"Ah, yes. I'm sure they are." As she spoke, Regina's eyes rolled away from the other woman before her and caught a glimpse of a young man not too far away. She had to stop and stare at him for a moment, completely forgetting the conversation she was having with her former schoolmate.

The man was perhaps a year or two older than herself with flaming red hair and freckles dotting his pale skin. Strong muscles peeked out from the sleeves of his shirt, making Regina's breath catch. Then she noticed the man walking toward herself and Hermione.

 _Oh my,_ Regina thought to herself, _Michael has nothing on this man. I wonder who he is and if I can get Granger to leave._

Lost in her thoughts, Regina didn't see the gorgeous stranger drop the items he was carrying into Hermione's buggy until his voice interrupted her reverie. "It took forever to find cider. You'd think they would have more, with it being this close to Christmas."

"You do know if you couldn't find the cider I could have just made some of my own," Hermione retorted with a grin.

Jealousy burned in Regina at the easy banter between her plain former classmate and the fine specimen before them. She must have been too obvious because the pair turned back to her.

"Are you alright, Regina?" Hermione asked. Both of them were looking at her as though she had grown two heads.

"Y-yes, I'm fine. Who might this be, Hermy?"

"This is the man I was just telling you about, my fiance Fred Weasley. Fred, this is Regina Hartford. We went to primary school together."

"Pleasant to meet you," Fred greeted Regina politely, offering his hand. She took it mechanically and released it a moment later. "And you shouldn't call Hermione Hermy. She nearly eviscerated my brother for it, and they've been best friends since they were eleven."

"All the more reason Ron should've known not to call me that," Hermione defended herself. "And Harry even warned him off before that since it was a bad day for me."

"Who might these other people be?" Regina asked, wondering if any of them were as gorgeous as Fred and if she could get her hooks into any of them.

Hermione produced a picture from her wallet of the last Weasley family get-together, grateful she'd had the foresight to get muggle prints as well as magical ones. "This is Fred's family." She pointed at each family member as she named them. "These are his parents, Arther and Molly. His oldest brother Bill with his wife Fleur and their children, next brother Charlie, who lives in Romania, third brother Percy and his wife Audrey, Fred's twin brother George and his girlfriend, Angelina, then of course there's Fred and myself. Next to me is Fred's youngest brother and my best friend Ron with his girlfriend Luna. Then next to him is our other best friend Harry with his girlfriend and Fred's baby sister Ginny. And then you know my parents there on the end."

Regina's jaw was on the floor, barely able to contain her surprise at such a big family, all of whom were gorgeous. _And taken!_ her traitorous brain reminded her. "You have a lovely family," she stammered enviously.

"I'm rather fond of them," Fred teased as Hermione returned the photo to her wallet. A wince scrunched her face as a twinge of pain shot through her left arm, forcing her to drop the purse it held. "Babe, you okay?" Fred asked in concern.

"Yeah," Hermione gasped in obvious discomfort. Her right hand instinctively moved to cradle the hurting left arm. Fred instantly understood.

"Need anything for it?" he asked softly as he tenderly massaged the afflicted area.

"We don't have anything here that could help with this," Hermione answered bitterly. "Not even in my bag." Regina's eyes glanced quickly at the unassuming purse in the child's seat of the cart. "Just keep doing what you're doing."

"You got it, love."

Regina stood watching awkwardly as Fred gently massaged Hermione's arm through the sleeve of her shirt, wondering what could be the cause of her pain. She could see the obvious love Fred held for Hermione, and she felt a different kind of jealousy.

"I wish Bellatrix wasn't dead so I could kill her myself for doing this to you," the redhead mumbled under his breath as the brunette tried to stave off the tears that wanted to erupt.

"No you don't," Hermione choked out. "You would end up in Azkaban for murder and you know it. Besides, it was much more satisfying to see your mum take her out."

"This is true," Fred chuckled softly. "At least it's this one on your arm that's hurting and not the other one. It might be a little awkward for me to massage your entire chest here in the middle of the store." Hermione laughed lightly in agreement, and Fred leaned down to press a gentle kiss against her arm. "Feeling better?"

"Much. Thank you, love."

"Anything for you, Mione." When the pair looked back up, they found Regina staring at them with an unreadable expression on her face.

"Regina, are you alright?" Hermione asked in concern.

Shaking herself out of her trance, Regina gave a shaky answer. "Yes, I'm fine. Well, I must be going now. I have a lot to do today." Hermione and Fred could hear the tremble in Regina's voice, but they didn't mention it. "Lovely seeing you again, Hermione. And it was a pleasure to meet you, Fred. I wish you a happy life together."

"Thank you, Regina," Hermione said sincerely. She could tell the other woman was being oddly sincere as well. "I wish you the same." With a final nod, Regina steered her buggy away from the couple and continued her shopping, feeling the pair's concerned eyes watching her the whole way.

"Do you think she'll be okay?" Fred asked softly. His arms snaked around Hermione's back and rested lovingly against her shoulder.

"I hope so. She didn't seem too happy once she realized just how happy we are."

"She also seemed jealous. And I didn't miss how she was eyeing me and the lust in her eyes when you mentioned my family."

"Regina told me she has a fiance, but if she truly loved him, she wouldn't have been so ready to jump on you and your family. Maybe things aren't as wonderful as she made them seem."

"I wouldn't be surprised," Fred agreed. Finally, the pair moved away from the produce section and headed toward the registers to check out.

"You know, I wonder if I should try to introduce her to Neville," wondered Hermione.

Fred had to double take at the random thought. "Why?"

"Obviously, Regina isn't happy, and Neville has been a bit down and out since his falling out with Hannah. I wonder if putting them together would be a bad idea."

"Hermione, she is still engaged," Fred reminded her.

"I know that," Hermione rolled her eyes. "I don't mean set them up on a date. I mean introduce them as friends. Maybe Neville could be a good influence on her."

"I don't know, Mione. I wouldn't want to subject Neville to that."

"I can't disagree," Hermione grinned a bit sadly. "Though it does seem there's some potential for change there. Maybe I should give it some more thought, ask Neville what he thinks."

"It couldn't possibly hurt to ask him," Fred shrugged. "Now let's hurry up and get these things paid for. We need to hurry so we won't be late."

"I can't wait to see everyone's faces when we finally tell them!" gushed Hermione, turning her cart into the nearest register lane with a relatively short line.

"Especially once they see the ring I plan to present to you."

"Will you give me any clues as to what it looks like?" Hermione begged as they waited.

"Nope. You have to wait and see with everyone else." The brunette pouted at her fiance's devious grin. "It won't be that much longer, baby."

"Just until sunset, which is," she glanced at her watch, "four hours away!"

Fred had to laugh; he just couldn't help it. Hermione was just too cute. "You'll have plenty to occupy your time until then, love. You won't even notice the time slipping away from you, and before you know it, we'll be gathered in front of everyone giving them a proposal to die for."

"Make sure George has the camera ready. I need a picture of everyone's reactions to our engagement."

"And you will have it. Wizard's honor."

"Good. Now help me with these groceries." As the couple unloaded their items onto the conveyor belt, they anxiously anticipated the night to come. Fred especially couldn't wait to see Hermione's face when he gave her the three-carat diamond and sapphire ring he had tucked safely away in his pocket. It was sure to be a memorable night.

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A/N: I'm considering continuing this, seeing what could happen if Hermione does decide to introduce Regina and Neville. What does everyone think? Please review! Thanks for reading!


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